Most persons who work at desks or tables are presented with such desks and tables at a pre-determined height. Such persons will typically have a height-adjustable chair which may be used to bring their upper body into a proper relationship with the desk. Several ergonomic office chair manufacturers now incorporate mechanisms that allow the seat pan and backrest to self adjust and follow the motions of the user. Such adjustments, however, do not take into account the distance between the feet of the person and the floor. It is thus reasonably common for a person to use a footrest to bring the user's legs into an ergonomically correct position so as to avoid problems such as leg strain, back strain, and circulatory problems.
Footrests are often provided for airline or coach passengers to improve comfort. In recent times there has been increasing concern about alleviating the potential to develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in airline or coach passengers who are required to sit for lengthy time periods. Such passengers are known to move about the cabin of an airplane to improve circulation, leaving the confines and safety of their seat, with the additional risk of being injured in the event of unexpected movement of the aircraft in flight. Prior art footrests, whilst height-adjustable, remain fixed in a position in use.
There remains a need for an improved ergonomic footrest which allows dynamic adjustment to be accomplished during use.